


I Love Him, I Love Him Not

by nato3



Category: Code Lyoko
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mentions of Blood, Mentions of surgery, Mild Language, Minor Violence, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slash, Slow Build, Temporary Het, injuries
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-08
Updated: 2017-12-23
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:12:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 13,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nato3/pseuds/nato3
Summary: Yumi and Ulrich, both teens dating each other and in love... but will it stay that way? Ulrich knows Odd is special to him, but as time and events start passing by, it seems he's becoming something more, and different feelings start to develop for the blonde boy.Slow build (most likely), M/M and temp F/M





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys! 
> 
> This is my very first fanfic ever, and this idea popped into my head after randomly thinking about this show again. I reaaally like this ship too, so I decided to write about it.
> 
> So uhh, I really hope you guys enjoy this first chapter. Would mean a lot to me :)
> 
> Also..
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko in any way!

Ulrich was laying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as he recalled earlier events.

He was hanging out with Yumi, his girlfriend who he was incredibly happy with. All his thoughts kept on returning to one single moment they shared, and that was their short yet sweet kiss, and he slipped on a small smile accompanied with a pink blush. Odd, who happened to be staring at Ulrich, noticed his friend's blushing. He was originally working on drawing Kiwi, his oh-so-lovable dog, until he figured that things were too quiet, which caused him to stare at Ulrich. His neutral expression quickly turned into a frown, but he shook his head and decided to speak up. 

"Hey, what are you blushing at? Thinking about Yumi again?" Snapping Ulrich out of his thoughts, he turned to Odd and sat up, trying to cover the half of his face with his arm, a poor attempt to hide his blush. 

"Ah, well, you're not wrong." He hesitated. "We were out earlier today and... we kissed," Ulrich said. This stung Odd, feeling jealousy in his heart stir up again. 

Odd knew he loved Ulrich. With all his heart, even, but he also knew that the brunette was straight as hell if dating Yumi meant anything. Before he and Yumi started going out, Odd just knew his best friend would be happier dating her. He just knew. 

So, he pushed him to confess first. To ask her out. To take them on their first date. And damn, it hurt him every single time... 

But he had no time for thoughts like that. Not in the presence of his best friend, anyway. So he sucked it up and got off his own bed, sat next to Ulrich and forced a grin, trying to hide his pained expression. 

"Aww, you two are the cutest couple ever, aren't ya?!" Odd wrapped his arm around Ulrich's shoulder, something they did often. "Well, maybe not as cute as Jeremie and Aelita, but you get what I mean." 

"Shut it, Odd...", Ulrich pushed him away slightly and was embarrassed at this point, so he retreated to the topic of their other two friends. "But they _are_ cute, aren't they? Just need Jeremie to trust his gut and confess already."

"Unless Aelita beats him to the punch," Odd snickered. "Not like you're any different from Einstein, isn't that right, Ulrich?" 

"Oi, at least I confessed first!" he defended himself, giving a half-annoyed look to Odd. But he noticed something and he took a closer look at his face.

Odd was grinning, looking genuinely happy for the brunette at first glance. But his eyes told a different story. 

He was hurt. His best friend was hurt, and Ulrich was taken aback because he hasn't got the slightest idea as to why. 

"Odd...?" he whispered, almost hesitant to raise his voice another level. "What's wrong?" Odd, if anything, was rarely upset around him, or that's what he thought. He had a worried face on and he expected Odd to tell him what was wrong. He could tell that this wasn't about some prank or anything he got in trouble for. They were best friends, after all, and best friends don't hide secrets. 

_Damn it,_ he thought. _He figured me out, huh?_ Being such an expert at hiding things from Ulrich, he definitely didn't have this coming. He didn't know if he was off his game or if Ulrich was extra alert today, but either way, he was being read like a book right now. He looked away, preventing Ulrich from seeing his eyes. 

"Whatcha mean? I'm perfectly fine!" he exclaimed, abruptly getting up from his bed afterwards. "A-Anyway, I'm going to bed. You should too, alright?"

Ulrich's look changed from worried to shocked if his widened eyes and open mouth didn't make it obvious enough. "Wha-- Odd!" he stood up too, but it was meaningless. Odd was already safe under his covers, facing the wall. Kiwi whined and joined him, making himself comfortable on the corner of the bed. _Dang, he's fast,_ Ulrich sighed and retreated back to his own bed once Odd showed no signs of getting back up. He took one last look at the back of his friend's head, and turned off the lights. 

Ulrich decided that he was going to find out in the morning. Now might have not been the best time to urge him about it, anyway. After a few minutes of pure silence in the dark, Odd's voice peeked out. "Night."

Upon hearing this, his lips turned up slightly. "Yeah, night, Odd."

**. . .**

Ulrich groaned, opening his eyes slightly before rubbing them to awaken himself. He reluctantly uncovered himself from the cozy warmth under his covers, and placed his feet on the cold floor. Across from him was Odd, who was splattered across the bed. One leg was under his blanket, the other wasn't. One of his arms was behind his head, the other was under his shirt. Really, this was a sight he should've been used to, but Ulrich was still amazed at how the blonde got into these ridiculous positions while asleep. Only God knows how. 

He stepped towards the other's bed and grabbed his shoulder, shaking it. 

"Odd, wake up." No response. "Wake up." A low moan. "Wake up!" 

Odd was startled awake and rolled off of his bed onto the floor causing a _thud._ Pfft, he _was_ already close to the edge, anyway. 

"Ow!" he rubbed his head as an attempt to soothe the sudden pain. Then, he sent a semi-glare at Ulrich. "You don't have to keep doing that everyday, you know?!"

"I'll stop doing it once you start waking up sooner, dumbass," he resisted a chuckle. "Let's get ready for breakfast."

Odd knew well enough that he couldn't stay mad at Ulrich, so he nodded slightly and they both headed for the boys bathroom. 

**. . .**

They were almost ready to leave for breakfast, when all of the sudden Ulrich remembered what he wanted to ask Odd today. He still remembered those green, sad eyes of his and frowned. He knew he wouldn't get a chance to ask him during breakfast, at least definitely not in front of his friends. He didn't want to ask during classes either, and asking when they're returning to their dorm room leaves the risk of Odd wanting to "go to bed". It would be now or never.

"Uhh... Odd?" He let out a _yeah?_ and turned to face him. "You didn't tell me... what was wrong last night? Did something happen?" He stared intently at him, crossing his fingers and hoping for an answer. Double the chance, right?

_Shit. There's no way I'm getting out of this one._ Odd tried to think of an excuse, and fast. Then, it hit him. 

"Umm... I... failed my math test. Yeah, that's right! You have nothing to worry about, buddy." He laughed sheepishly and averted his eyes away from Ulrich, then back to him. He had an unsatisfied look on his face, which meant bad news for Odd.

"Odd. You've never been upset about failing a test before. Why don't you tell me what's _really_ wrong?"

"Umm, uhh..." Odd looked around and the clock caught his eyes. Perfect. "Well, won't you look at the time. We'll be late for breakfast if we don't head out soon!" He hastily opened the door and speed-walked through the hallway, in case of Jim catching him running.

Ulrich tssked and followed after him, eventually catching up to him. "I'm not buying it, Odd! C'mon, don't be stubborn."

After about half-a-minute of speed-walking, Odd slowed down in which Ulrich followed suit. He gave it some thought; should he really tell him about his feelings or not? It's been long enough. But... he was too scared of the risk of losing his best friend and making things awkward between them. He wouldn't be able to bear that. He would feel... so alone.

Then again, he's been wanting to get this off his chest. There's also a possibility that things will go well and they'll still remain best friends... or possibly more? 

Reaching the cafeteria with Ulrich, Odd made his decision. Tonight, when they return to their dorm room, he would tell him there and then. _Calm down, Odd. You'll be fine. We'll be fine! Think positive. Think. Positive._ He let out a long sort-of-out-of-character sigh, slapped his own face a couple of times and shifted his attention to Ulrich.

"Alright. You wanna know so badly? Tonight when we're back at our dorm, I'll tell you." Ulrich smiled at this and nodded his head as a response.

They both got their breakfast together and headed towards the table where Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita was. As they were walking, Odd stole a glance at Yumi and was hesitant about sitting at the same table as her and Ulrich, even more hesitant than usual. But he knew he had to get through this, and not sitting with them would be suspicious. Too suspicious. He sat down next to Ulrich who was facing Yumi and dug down into his breakfast.

"So, why are you guys so late this fine morning?" Yumi asked, tucking a black strand behind her ear and looked both at Odd and Ulrich, but mostly keeping her attention on her boyfriend. 

"Ah, we were just... talking..." the blonde trailed off as Yumi moved her hand closer to Ulrich's and smiled. His face heated up at this, and he grabbed Yumi's hand and interlocked their fingers. Aelita and Jeremie smiled at their interaction, only to turn and look at each other and flush. It seemed this was affecting everybody positively.

Except Odd. Goddamn, he was feeling the pang in his heart again and it pained him. But he had a goal, and that was to not get discouraged so easily.

"Well, isn't _this_ adorable? What's up with everyone dating, huh?" Odd questioned, trying to make things seem normal.

"We're not dating!" Aelita and Jeremie said in unison, a little louder than intended. 

"Sure, Princess." He turned to Jeremie, "not yet is what I'm willing to bet," he winked at him and shot him a toothy smile.

Jeremie was about to argue back but suddenly turned his attention to his laptop, knowing fully well what was to be expected.

"Uh-oh."

The others turned to him. "What's up, Jeremie?" Yumi asked as she released her hand from Ulrich's.

"Our old friend's back at it again," he stated. "X.A.N.A. just activated a tower, but I'm not seeing any strange activity going on." He checked the news channel which just showed regular news. Nothing that was able to direct Jeremie and the others to X.A.N.A. There was no sign of unusual activity going on around the cafeteria either, so X.A.N.A.'s plan was unknown. 

"Maybe we can go to the factory after class," Ulrich suggested. "Everything seems calm now, so things should be fine. We'll take action once we recognize anything out of the ordinary," he assured Jeremie.

"Right... we'll do that," Jeremie was unsure about this, and he, quite frankly, had a bad feeling. Aelita was aware of this and rested her hand on his shoulder for support.

"It could have been a false alarm, Jeremie. Let's not get too riled up if nothing's happening."

Jeremie knew she was only trying to help him, but the feeling wouldn't shake away. He only hoped his friends were right. 

"Okay, I'm stuffed." Odd patted his stomach and stood. "I'm heading to class. I'm so ready to take a nice, long nap in Ms. Hertz's room," he walked away, turned to take a look at a distracted Ulrich and went on his way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's that. I feel like there's a lot in one chapter, but too little at the same time. Not sure, buuut I'm happy with it. I'm thinking about continuing this too, so there will definitely be more chapters to come.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty, here's the second chapter. This one is a little more... action-packed, it has slight violence. I promise it contributes to Odd and Ulrich, though.

Odd, Ulrich, Aelita, and Jeremie were walking to their homeroom class while Yumi separated to go to hers.

The four took their assigned seats, Ulrich and Odd sitting next to each other while Jeremie and Aelita sat behind them. Their teacher was unusually late.

"You think her old lady instincts kicked in and she's at the infirmary now?" Odd asked, yawning and resting his head on the table.

"Don't say that, Odd," Jeremie responded, his eyebrows furrowing. _It couldn't be..._

"Well, I wouldn't have a hard time believing that," Ulrich admitted, leaning back in his chair. Odd grinned and gave a thumbs-up to Ulrich from his position. Then, they heard the _clack clack clack_ of her high heels coming from the hallways, each one getting louder. They both sighed defeatedly while Jeremie sighed his of relief, Aelita chuckling. Other classmates returned to their original seats and quieted down, not wanting to get a scolding from Ms. Hertz. 

She entered the room with a key in hand, turning around and locking the door from the inside. She turned to the class, who in return exchanged confused murmurs with each other. The Lyoko warriors narrowed their eyes at Ms. Hertz, only to soon notice X.A.N.A.'s logo in her eyes.

"Oh no. Guys, we need to go to the factory, now!" Jeremie panicked. 

"We're waaay ahead of ya, Einstein." The group bolted for an open window but were all shut down by X.A.N.A. The shutters were closed instantly afterwards, causing commotion to occur in the classroom. 

"Shit! How'll we get out of here?!" Odd tried and tried to get the window open, but to no avail. "It's useless, the window's not budging!" 

"We _have_ to try to escape from the door," Ulrich stated. "C'mon!" They ran for the door and were _so_ close until X.A.N.A. used his power to send Ms. Hertz's desk flying, covering the door successfully.

"God, no, this can't be happening!" Jeremie phoned Yumi and waited for her to answer. "Answer... Answer...," he tapped his foot on the ground until he heard her voice. 

"Hello, Jeremie?"

"Yumi! Quick, head to the fact--." He was cut off as X.A.N.A. electrified his phone, making him drop it in pain. The rest of their cellphones were electrified as well, it being impossible to communicate with Yumi unless they were face-to-face.

"It's alright, I think she got the message. We really only expect one thing if we get called by you," Odd said, trying to lighten the disastrous mood. Apparently ticking off X.A.N.A. in the process, he grunted and took possession of every single piece of lab equipment, making them fly around the student's heads. All of the students screamed and took refuge under their desks.

"Oh no!" Aelita shrieked. She was used to different kinds of monsters chasing her, but floating lab equipment? No way.

"Get down, Aelita!" Jeremie pushed Aelita down and lost his own footing, stumbling down with her as well. They both crawled under a desk while Ulrich and Odd did the same. 

"How do we get out of here now?! The situation is way worse and his target is most likely you, Aelita!"

"Calm down, Jeremie," she advised. "We just need an opportunity..." 

Meanwhile, Jim was strolling in the hallway until he heard screaming from the classroom. 

"Huh? What's going on in there?" He tried opening the door but it was locked. "Hey, what's going on?!" He banged his fists on the door, "Open up!" 

"Hey, it's Jim!" Odd exclaimed, turning over to Ulrich. "Keep on screaming, guys!" he shouted over to his classmates and proceeded to scream himself. Ulrich shook his head, quietly saying _moron_ and followed after him.

Jim, who obviously heard this, knocked down the door which slid down the table, making it land on the ground.

"What the...?" Jim was astonished at what he was looking at. X.A.N.A. looked over at Jim, walked towards him and right through the table covering the entrance, fully intending to hurt him. Jim stepped back, "Uhh, Ms. Hertz, are you alright?" 

Seeing this as an opportunity to escape, the group of friends crawled to the desk, jumped right over it and started running towards the factory. The supercomputer virus realized that they got out and completely focused its attention away from Jim, chasing after them.

**. . .**

They eventually reached the sewer lid and removed it, all going down one by one. They got to the skateboards and realized that one was missing, concluding that Yumi was already waiting for them. The four took off, reaching the second ladder in no time and climbed up.

As they were reaching the elevator, X.A.N.A. suddenly appeared up in front of them, blocking their path. Jeremie got defensive and stood in front of Aelita.

"You're not taking her anywhere, X.A.N.A.!" Jeremie snarled, trying to sound as threatening as possible. The virus wasn't having it, though, and walked up to him, ready to shove him out of the way. That is until Odd got in the way and took the hit for Jeremie instead. He was hit against one of the metal pillars, hurting his right shoulder. 

_No fatal injuries yet, though..._ Odd thought and tried to get back up. 

"Odd!" Ulrich shouted and was about to run over to help him until Odd stopped him. 

"Ulrich, you go with Jeremie and Aelita. I'll keep on distracting our old buddy here." 

"What? I'll help--." 

"No. Yumi's gonna need the extra help, too, so go! I'll be fine, don't you worry," Odd said, having a grin on his face to prove it.

The brunette knew there was no time to waste, so the three ran for the elevator and pressed the button, finally going down to the supercomputer. He only wanted to know why he had such a horrible feeling of his best friend fighting off X.A.N.A. in an old lady's body. 

The elevator opened up to a frantic Yumi, expecting explanation. 

"Well? What's going on?!"

"Ms. Hertz is possessed by X.A.N.A., who Odd is currently fighting off," Jeremie summed up and paced over to the supercomputer. "Quickly, I'll ready the scanners for you guys."

They nodded and headed down to the scanner room, each one stepping inside.

"Transfer, Ulrich. Transfer, Yumi. Transfer, Aelita.

"Scanner, Ulrich. Scanner, Yumi. Scanner, Aelita. 

"Virtualization." 

With that, the three were virtualized on Lyoko. They were mid-air and then landed on their feet, letting out some small _umphs_ and stood up. They were in the Desert Sector, and from what they could tell, the coast was clear.

"How's it looking, Jeremie?" Ulrich asked. "Any monsters?" 

"No monsters yet, but be sure to expect them," he said. "I'm materializing your vehicles. Once you get them, start heading north towards the tower." 

Their vehicles appeared and they jumped on, going as fast as they can to reach their destination. So far so good. Not until they spotted some extra company.

"Watch out, guys! Three tarantulas ahead!"

Yumi and Ulrich took out their weapons, getting prepared to eliminate the monsters.

**. . .**

In the meantime, Odd was busy taking care of Ms. Hertz.

"You know..." he dodged X.A.N.A.'s punch, "I'm not really one to hurt girls," he ducked, "and especially not old ladies!" Odd managed to make some distance between them.

"But gee, you really suck right now," he taunted, sticking his tongue out. "What's the matter, huh?"

Odd was apparently able to successfully irritate X.A.N.A. to the core, causing him to move at an unreadable speed until he was in front of Odd. He growled and took ahold of him.

"Whoa there-- ahh!" Odd was thrown mercilessly to the wall behind him. He grunted, shakily trying to stand back up again. But X.A.N.A. was one step ahead of him and grabbed him by the neck, electrocuting Odd as much as he can. 

Odd was screaming in agonizing pain, it reverberating throughout the factory. The virus felt as if this was enough and dropped him, Odd whimpering as he landed on the harder-than-usual ground.

X.A.N.A. started to walk away to reach Jeremie, until he felt a rock hit the back of his head. 

"You don't think... you're getting away _that_ easily, right?" Odd was barely standing on his own two feet, but he was managing. He grinned weakly and limped towards the opposite direction, hoping X.A.N.A. would follow.

And he did.

**. . .**

There was one tarantula left. Ulrich was driving Aelita closer to the tower while Yumi tried to fend herself off from the tarantula. It was no help having her overwing destroyed, either.

She was using her fans as shields against its lasers. The tarantula let out an animal-like sound and started aiming for her legs instead. 

"Ulrich, hurry up! Yumi's about to lose all of her health points!"

"I got it, we're almost there," Ulrich responded. But it was no use. Yumi's HP was down to 0 and she groaned, falling backwards and devirtualizing into thin air. The tarantula got back on its four legs and went after Ulrich and Aelita. 

However, the two already reached the tower and Aelita ran in, hastily reaching the center.

"Not to rush you or anything, but Odd's probably getting beaten up right now!" Jeremie informed them. _Odd,_ Ulrich thought. _This feeling... not good._ He let the tarantula shoot him until he lost all of his HP, the blue pixels fading away.

"Tower deactivated, Jeremie. Materialize me again."

"You got it," Jeremie started entering a bunch of codes in, also noting that Yumi just entered the room. "They did it." 

"Oh thank god. I'm going to check on Odd," she went back to the elevator and pressed the button to go upstairs. Yumi stepped out of the elevator and couldn't find him or Ms. Hertz. She turned to the bridge and spotted an unconscious Ms. Hertz, nothing unusual there. However, she looked closer and also found a knocked-out Odd. She gasped and ran over to his side. 

"Odd? Odd! Oh man, what are these bruises?!" she widened her eyes in disbelief and tried not to touch him too much in fear of hurting him, but he wouldn't wake up. She heard the elevator open and sensed several footsteps getting louder.

Ulrich was the first to notice his best friend passed out on the ground out of the other two and rushed to his side. "Odd, wake up! This isn't funny, c'mon!" He turned to Yumi, "What happened here?!"

"This is obviously X.A.N.A.'s doing! But he hasn't been _this_ severe before!" Yumi replied. Ulrich's hands curled up into fists and he pounded them against the ground. 

"Ulrich, calm down! You can be angry all you want later, but now we need to take care of them," Jeremie said to calm him down. As much as he wanted to argue back, he was right. Ulrich winced at some of the bleeding, frowning and then facing the other three. 

"Alright, we _need_ to get him to the hospital. Quick," he was gentle in lifting up Odd onto his back, "you guys take Ms. Hertz. I have Odd." Aelita and Yumi each wrapped one of Ms. Hertz's arms around their shoulders, lifting her off the ground. They ran towards the academy, not sure what to expect after the little "event" that happened earlier.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I read the Code Lyoko wiki and apparently XANA views Odd as an annoyance/pest, I made it so he's fed up with him in this chapter. That equals all the bruises and stuff, I never understood how the characters were never hurt enough for the hospital when they were against someone possessed by XANA buuut whatever.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third chapter :)

They reached Kadic Academy, all out of breath but nevertheless reaching the infirmary. Ulrich and the rest barged through the door, startling Yolanda.

"What's going on? Oh my," she examined Odd's injuries. "I'll call an ambulance, you two set Hertz onto the bed," she referred to Yumi and Aelita. "I can take care of her."

They gently rested her onto the bed and sent each other worried looks. They knew they had to come up with some sort of excuse, and fast too. She finished calling for an ambulance and hung the telephone up.

"Now then, do you guys mind explaining about what happened here?" she asked, scanning her eyes over them. 

"Well, uhh..." Jeremie started. 

"Ms. Hertz just tripped over and fell. She lost consciousness afterwards," Aelita said, covering for Jeremie. "As for Odd... we're not really sure what happened, we just know that he's badly injured." She hoped the nurse would buy her story, after thinking it up on the spot anyway. It seemed as if Yolanda was contemplating about what to say before responding, then gave in. 

"Alright then, let's go outside. The ambulance is waiting," Ulrich bolted out the door as soon as the words were out of her mouth, only to be greeted by Jim, Mr. Delmas, and a wailing siren. Yumi was looking after him, a somber expression on her face for a brief moment, then turned to face the others.

"Listen guys, I'm really sorry but I need to get back to class. I'll meet you all at the hospital later. See ya," Yumi waved goodbye before practically running back to class. Jeremie and Aelita soon followed Ulrich outside where they saw him setting Odd down onto the stretcher. He was about to step foot into the ambulance until Jim stopped him.

"Oh no you don't. You're not going anywhere. Neither you or your friends are going anywhere until you lot explain about what happened earlier!" Jim barked.

"But why us?" Aelita asked. 

"Because everything coincidentally cooled down as soon as you four ran out that door!" he spat. He leaned in closer, close enough to whisper, "And I just _know_ that you kids are always up to something, up to your little schemes. I just know." Ulrich grimaced and reluctantly held his tongue. He knew it wouldn't be good to argue back, anyway.

"Okay children. To my office, now," Mr. Delmas ordered. They all slouched their way towards his office, Ulrich shoving his hands in his pockets, Jeremie fixing his glasses, and Aelita looking down.

They walked inside and Mr. Delmas walked around his desk, sat down in his chair, interlocked his fingers and rested his chin on them. "We already questioned the rest of your classmates. If it were only one or two students telling us this bizarre story, it wouldn't be believable. But the whole classroom described the event with identical details. The same details, even. They all seemed quite... frightened."

Ulrich faced Jeremie and Aelita and nodded his head, signaling that he would handle this.

"Sir, I'm afraid this was all a big misunderstanding," he began, Delmas curiously raising one eyebrow. "You see, Odd and I planned this prank for awhile, we tied some real thin string onto the lab equipment to the ceiling light overhang while nobody was there," he explained. "It was purely for recreational purposes, sir." 

"You're saying that this was all behind you and Della Robbia? If the student's testimonies are true, then how do you explain the 'floating'?"

"That's... a long story to explain another time. But trust me, Jeremie and Aelita had no involvement in the creation of our prank. We just ran to, uhh, make a dramatic exit." Ulrich knew his excuse was lame, but this school was known for accepting lame excuses. It was silent for a while, aside from Jim's _that's impressive_ and the three weren't able to tell what the principal was going to say. It got up to the point where Aelita started to twiddle with her fingers.

He eventually let out a deep sigh and unlocked his fingers. "Alright then. Ulrich, you know the drill. You get caught in the act, and you get in trouble. However, I am willing to reduce the time for your punishment because of your confession." Ulrich spun around to his friends and they all shared a joyful look in their eyes. "But! That does not mean you go with no punishment. I'll exclude Odd from this one due to his unfortunate injuries, but you are to serve a day suspension while Jeremie and Aelita get two hours of detention. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir!" they almost mockingly saluted him and were glad to finally leave his office. 

Ulrich wasn't fully satisfied though, and he directed his attention back to his two friends. "Hey, guys?"

"Mhm?"

"Uh," he darted his eyes away from their faces, "I'm real sorry for getting you guys into deten--."

"Ulrich, we know what you're going to say, and we forgive you. But there's no time for that right now, we need to get to class, pronto," Jeremie stated. "Just do us a favor and don't start sulking about it, okay?" They began to walk in step with each other. 

"I do _not_ sulk."

**. . .**

Classes were done for the day. Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremie, and Aelita met up to visit Odd in the hospital. They were sitting in the waiting room, the feeling of impatience and nervousness drifting in the air as they waited for the doctor. The clamor of nurses and doctors rushing by to go who-knows-where, the receptionists answering frantic calls, other anxious patients on the edge of their seats as they waited to be admitted in... the atmosphere was spreading an uneasy feeling for the friends.

Finally, a deep, male voice spoke up. "Visitors for Della Robbia?" The four stood up simultaneously and the doctor signaled them to follow him. They stopped in front of a door and the doctor turned to them.

"I should inform you that your friend is conscious. While that's all nice and good, he's still not in great shape, so don't be rough with him." He paused to view their reactions. "It's nothing life-threatening, I can assure you that. In any case, the visit has to be quick. I'll give you a few minutes," the doctor opened the door and they headed inside.

And there he was. Odd Della Robbia, despite being covered in several bruises on a hospital bed, he still had a stupid grin forming on his face. Ulrich felt a strange, rushing sensation of relief and happiness. _Of course you're happy to see your best friend, idiot._ He almost smacked himself for mentally arguing with, well, himself.

But there was another feeling. Ulrich couldn't quite put his finger on it, but it felt... tingly. He compared it to what he felt for Yumi at times before, but didn't understand why he was feeling this right now. He figured it would pass.

"Hey guys, how's it goin-- ow!" Odd hissed in pain after he tried to move his right arm. 

"Odd, don't move around too much," Aelita warned. She sat on the chair to his right side, Ulrich standing behind her while Yumi and Jeremie stood on the other side. The scene was too familiar compared to the time Odd listened to that killer music by X.A.N.A. They all, unfortunately, still remembered that day. 

"So, what's the news? Do you know when you're getting released?" Yumi asked.

"The doc'll be telling me later. All he told me is that I'll be getting surgery because of my right shoulder. Dislocated," Odd responded. 

"I'm assuming you're not returning until later tonight or tomorrow. We'll have no classes, so when you come back, I'll lend you my notes," Jeremie smiled.

"You're the greatest, aren't you, Einstein?"

"I sure am."

Ulrich wasn't paying attention to the conversation, though. The dislocated shoulder kept on grabbing his attention. "X.A.N.A. really got you this time, huh?"

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds before Odd spoke up. "Yeah, I guess so. But hey, I'm alive, right?"

"You may be alive Odd, but there's no guarantee on what X.A.N.A. will do next time," Yumi indicated, crossing her arms. 

"Yumi's right. Everything is in X.A.N.A.'s favor whether we like it or not, with the Return to the Past's and all," Aelita added. "He's still capable of becoming stronger, which is bad enough for us."

"Not to mention that we have one less warrior now, temporarily at least. We don't know what'll happen if I try transferring you to Lyoko with that injury. Not only that, but you won't be able to fend off for yourself as you normally do with a slinger!" Jeremie blurted out. They all sent worried looks at Odd who was feeling pretty down himself. 

"Yeah, I know this sucks. No need to pity me," Odd muttered. "Won't this," he eyeballed his shoulder, "make me more of a target?"

"It's hard to say it won't, but don't worry. I'll keep an eye out for you," Ulrich grinned at the blonde, trying to lighten up the situation. 

"Gee, thanks. You're a real lifesaver, you know. What'll I do without you?" Ulrich was about to punch him playfully before he realized he couldn't, frowning slightly.

The door suddenly opened and the group of friends got startled, turning to look back. 

"Times up, kids," the doctor from earlier said. They hesitated, but eventually said their _goodbye_ s and _see you later_ s towards their injured friend. Ulrich was the last one to leave, lingering around a little longer before the doctor urged him to leave the room.

**. . .**

It's been several hours since their visit to the hospital and the four were getting ready for bed in their individual residences. Three actually, Jeremie was spending the rest of his night staring at his computer screen. 

Ulrich returned from the bathroom and laid on his bed to read some comics. Whatever he was reading was becoming irrelevant though; his mind kept on wandering elsewhere and he could not maintain his focus. It was the same as 20 minutes prior when he called Yumi to assuage the silence he couldn't stand. It didn't help, though. It was strange, if Odd were here, he would probably be telling him to "cut it out" or "shut it, Odd" or "what are you even doing?!" Of course, it wasn't limited to just those sayings. 

Then, he remembered that Odd was supposed to tell him something tonight. Something important. Whatever was on his mind, Ulrich still wanted to know. _Guess that'll have to wait for another time,_ Ulrich laid his comic book down and sat up. He noticed Kiwi, who was whining and jumped up onto Odd's bed. Ulrich gave him an empathetic look before getting up to rub his head and shut the lights off. He climbed into his own bed and faced his right side once again, only being able to make out Kiwi's small dog shape. 

He closed his eyes to drift off to sleep. However, several minutes were passing and he was still wide awake. Ten minutes turned into twenty, twenty minutes turned into thirty, thirty minutes would eventually turn into forty. He was twisting and turning until he reached the decision to stare up at the ceiling, which had lots to show Ulrich, apparently. At that moment, it hit him.

It was then that Ulrich realized he was feeling lonely.


	4. Chapter 4

Odd was forcefully awakened by the feeling of a sharp pain to his right side. He groaned and pushed himself to sit up, feeling the grogginess set in. He rubbed his eyes to relieve his sleepiness, almost being successful in doing so. The blonde stretched his left arm out, feeling dissatisfied that he couldn't stretch his right one due to the slinger. Then, he realized that he wasn't at his dorm. He wasn't even at the hospital anymore. But, Odd soon came to realize that the room was strikingly familiar and concluded that he was in his bedroom. At his own house. With his parents.

"...What?" Odd stood up and scanned his room. Everything was still in place from the day he left for boarding school. There was a bookshelf filled with all the books and comics he used to read when he was younger, unsurprisingly dusty. To the right of the shelf was his table that he often used to draw on. It was permeated with scratches, nicks, dents, along with different colored markings from the result of his sloppy drawings. There was a trashcan to the side of the table that used to get filled up with crumpled papers, drawings that Odd wasn't satisfied with. In contrast to that, his bedroom walls were covered with his so-called masterpieces that he _was_ satisfied with. Odd let out a small smile, feeling nostalgia hit him. 

He suddenly heard the door open and he turned to it, seeing his mother at the door. "Hi, sweetie!" his mom, Marguerite, exclaimed. "How are ya feeling?" 

He blinked a couple of times before answering. "Mom? What am I doing here, and when did I get here?"

"It's not surprising that you don't remember. Your dad and I went to pick you up after your surgery. You were barely awake, though," she giggled. "It would have been better for you to stay with us overnight, anyway," she ruffled her son's hair and turned to go downstairs. "Breakfast is ready. Shout for me or your dad if you need help."

Odd nodded at her response and walked towards the bathroom to brush his teeth. He couldn't use both hands to put the toothpaste on the toothbrush, so he had to set the brush on the sink and then put the toothpaste on it, hoping the brush wouldn't fall over therefore ruining his efforts. Afterwards, he picked up the toothbrush, realizing his luck of being a leftie. 

A few minutes passed by and Odd let himself follow the aroma of blueberry pancakes drifting through the air. He reached the kitchen and stopped to take in the view of his parents. His mother was finishing serving up orange juice for the three of them. Meanwhile, his dad, Robert, was casually sitting at the kitchen table reading a newspaper. Picture-perfect family.

Odd rolled his eyes at the thought of that and suddenly remembered Ulrich with his far-from-perfect family. He only wished his own parents were like Ulrich's, even if it was slightly.

"What are you dozing out there for, Odd?" his father asked. "Come, sit down and have breakfast with us." Odd hesitantly agreed and sat down. He didn't know if they were going to praise him for having a dislocated shoulder or something, but he didn't like it either way. "So, mind telling us how you got that injury? Did you fight someone?"

"No, well, sort of--".

"Oh wow, bet you beat him to a pulp, huh?"

"That's our son!" his mother added in. Odd scowled at this and gripped his fork. 

"What, don't you guys care that I got this shoulder or something? Or the fact that I was in a fight? A physical one?!" 

"Of course we do! But we're also proud of you teaching that kid a lesson, son." His father ruffled Odd's already tousled hair and he almost pulled away from his hand. He decided to just eat his breakfast in silence, unlike the way he does at the academy. He would have gobbled up all his food by now, but he felt the familiar loss of appetite he would get whenever Yumi and Ulrich were around.

Right, Yumi and Ulrich. Odd gazed at his half-eaten plate. Although he lost his appetite, he never liked wasting food. Not even if jealousy came into play.

He finished up his food and looked up from his plate. "So, when do we leave?"

"So soon, Odd? We can leave whenever you like," his mother replied. 

He decided to take advantage of his mother's reply, "Alright then, whenever you guys finish eating, I'm ready." He got up and left the kitchen table, his parents frowning at each other. They both loved Odd, really... but they didn't know why he got so upset around him. They knew it was definitely something they had to talk about eventually, though.

 **. . .**

They arrived in front of the academy via car. His parents turned around to look at Odd from the backseat.

"Odd, have fun with your friends."

"Remember to call us if you need us!"

Odd unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door from the left side, "Yeah, I know. Bye mom, dad." He got out and walked through the gate, hearing the car take off. He frowned and headed towards his dorm.

It was almost noon, so if he wasn't mistaken, Ulrich would still be sleeping. That's what they did on every Sunday, sleep in to their heart's content. Sometimes -- and only sometimes -- he wished for something... more. Sometimes he wanted for him and Ulrich to wake up in the same bed after a memorable night. Well, it didn't _have_ to be a memorable night, but he still craved for it from time-to-time.

Odd shook his head before he had any other thoughts. He didn't want to succumb to his teenage desires, and he didn't want to _only_ view Ulrich in a physical way, so he continued walking to his dorm until he reached the closed door. He opened it slowly, being considerate of Ulrich this one time. He woke up Kiwi though, who was laying on his bed. He felt touched for a second until Kiwi started yapping away and jumped at Odd.

"Kiwi, shush. C'mon boy, shh," he got down on one knee and rubbed his head in an attempt to calm him down. However, Odd heard Ulrich groan and shift around in his bed. 

"Odd... is that you?" 

"No silly, it's Yumi. Of course it's me, dummy," Odd teased.

He heard Ulrich chuckle and sit up. "You didn't come back last night. Were you still at the hospital?"

"Nah, parents came to pick me up. I was home for awhile. I just came back," Odd replied while still petting Kiwi.

"Ah, I see..." there was a difference in Ulrich's voice and Odd immediately wanted to retract what he said. But the way Ulrich got out of bed and the way he looked at him as if he was relieved made Odd forget what he was thinking about. "Well? It's almost lunchtime," Ulrich opened his closet to grab his towel, "Let's get ready."

Odd grinned and opened his own closet door, pulling out his towel. "Yeah! I'm starving." He flipped the towel over his uninjured shoulder and went for the door before Ulrich rushed in front of him.

"Nuh-uh," Ulrich opened the door for him and waited for him to walk out.

"Hey man, I know you said you would keep an eye out for me, but this is baby treatment! I can open a door perfectly on my own," Odd asserted, putting his free hand on his hip to add more emphasis onto his statement. 

"I know that, Sassy, but you never know who or what is in front of the door! You can slip on something, or maybe one of X.A.N.A.'s polymorphic clones will be out there waiting for you. If that happens, I can take the blow, but you? No way, not again." Ulrich realized he rambled about wanting to keep his friend safe, so he shut up and felt embarrassed. 

Odd, on the other hand, was speechless. He knew he and Ulrich were close, but wow, he really felt cared for at that moment. Maybe... maybe this strengthened their friendship to some degree? "Fair point, Ulrich." Pause. "...and thanks."

"Yeah, don't mention it. I don't want to see you in the hospital a third time." 

Odd and Ulrich started walking towards the bathroom, then Odd wrapped his arm around his shoulder, "It's nice to know you really care, buddy!" 

"Oh, shut up. I'll take back all of what I said if you continue teasing me like this." Odd winked at him in return and they continued walking. 

"By the way, don't call me Sassy again. It sounds like Sissy."

"Dork."

 **. . .**

After some struggling of Odd trying to put on clothes and Ulrich helping him out, the two finally reached the cafeteria. They got their trays, picked out their food and carried it back to the table. Odd, having to use one arm, carefully held up his tray one-handedly, hoping it wouldn't fall down. Ulrich rushed over to their table to put his tray down, then back to Odd to hold his tray for him.

"Romantic," Aelita teased. 

"What took you guys so long?" Jeremie asked, eating a spoonful of his brussel sprouts. 

"Uhh, Einstein? Might I remind you that I have a dislocated shoulder?!" Odd blurted out. 

"I know that, but..." Jeremie figured it wasn't worth arguing, especially because Odd had a point, so he didn't continue from there. "Just glad you're here, Odd."

Odd beamed and patted Jeremie on the back, "You could have just said that in the first place, you know."

"It's nice to see you're livelier than ever, Odd," Yumi pointed out, smiling. 

"Of course! Who do you think I am? Sissy?!" 

"Ha-ha, hilarious," a familiar voice said, causing the group to look behind Odd. They saw Sissy who was approaching their table along with Nicholas and Herb. "What happened, Odd? Finally hurt yourself after all of this time?" This caused Aelita and Yumi to send glares at Sissy's direction, and Odd was about to retort back until he got interrupted.

"Beat it, Sissy. It's none of your business on what happened to Odd," Ulrich warned her. 

"But Ulrich-dear, wouldn't you agree that Odd is a big, clumsy idiot?" 

Ulrich's temper rose and he held their eye gaze. "I told you to _beat it,_ Sissy," Ulrich said with a snarl in his tone. This frightened her, causing her to take a step back and then let out a _hmmph,_ walking away.

Of course, everyone noticed this, especially Odd. Yumi took ahold of Ulrich's hand and gripped it. "Hey, calm down a bit, will ya? Sissy's just being Sissy," she said. 

Ulrich wanted to argue back about how he didn't get all riled up just because Sissy was being her usual bitchy-self, but he didn't. "Yeah... sorry." Ulrich didn't interlock their fingers together, but he didn't pull away either. Odd noticed this, of course, but didn't feel the usual _pang_ in his heart, not for the moment anyway.

He realized what Ulrich did, and it was for him. He defended him, and he knew that once they were in a secluded place, preferably their dorm, he would thank him.

But for now, he decided to resume normal conversation with his friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I'm planning to strengthen Odd and Ulrich's relationship from here. They're close, but they'll get closer l)


	5. Chapter 5

The group finished having their lunch and headed outside in front of the cafeteria.

"Okay guys, Aelita and I are off. We planned on doing some homework together and then working on a possible way to rematerialize Franz Hopper using the DNA Aelita found in Sector 5," Jeremie and Aelita looked at each other. "When we finish, we also plan on... going out somewhere," they both blushed. 

"You're a true romantic, aren't you, Einstein?" Odd teased.

"Odd..."

"What's wrong, Princess? Go on, go on! Enjoy your day together," he made a shooing motion and they both walked away, leaving the three of them. "Well, I'm going back to our dorm. I need to take my meds."

"And? What else will you be doing?" Yumi asked. 

"What do you expect? I'm going to hang out with Kiwi, of course," he grinned. "See ya later, lovebirds!"

"Oh, no you don't," Ulrich grabbed Odd's left arm and pulled him back. "You're staying with us."

"Huh? What? Don't you guys have a... date or something?" Odd protested.

"Well, yeah, we do. But I said I'd keep an eye out for you, didn't I?" 

"Oh, c'mon Ulrich, I don't want to get in the way!" Odd knew what was coming if he hung out with those two. "Yumi, say something about this."

"I don't mind having you tag along, Odd," she reassured. "Besides, we're going to the movies. You can sleep all you want in there," she ruffled his hair playfully. There was just something about Odd's hair that made people want to mess it up, huh.

"It's settled then. Odd, I'll go with you to take your pills and then we gotta go, the movie starts soon," Odd gave in, moping when they both headed towards the building. "We won't be long, Yumi!"

**. . .**

The three made it to the theaters having ten minutes to spare before it began. They got their tickets and Odd glanced down at it to catch the movie title. Just some name that made it sound like a cliché romance movie. _Just my luck,_ he thought. Odd didn't think Ulrich and Yumi were into that type of movie, but he figured that they both decided to give one a try.

They entered the darkening room with their food and beverages, picking out seats that were the farthest from the movie screen. Totally not Odd's style, he would prefer sitting as close to the screen as he can. They sat down, Yumi being in the middle while Ulrich sat to her left and Odd sat to her right. 

Odd looked around his surroundings and realized that there were only teenagers around their age in the theater room. Considering that they were watching a romance movie and there were just (most likely) hormonal teenagers around, Odd connected the dots and he suddenly felt left out. Apparently, it showed on his face. 

"Don't feel so self-conscious, Odd. We're with you," Yumi joked.

"Easy for you to say. You've got your boyfriend with you. I'm not with anybody!" Odd replied, leaning back in the chair and putting his arm behind his head. They both proceeded to get shushed by Ulrich as the movie started. 

Odd, not being able to keep his eyes open for more than a few minutes, yawned and already caught the gist of the movie. A girl and boy meet, they fall for each other, claim it's "true love" and yaddayadda. He's seen plenty of these movies, mostly in attempts to woo the girls he used to date. Their relationships usually didn't end up lasting, though. 

He managed to fall asleep, hearing Ulrich and Yumi's snickering before he blacked out.

**. . .**

Odd woke up to realize he was still in the movie theater. He figured it was almost ending though -- the main protagonists were leaning in to kiss and Odd frowned for waking up during this part of the movie. Yumi and Ulrich didn't realize that he was awake though. He turned over to look at them and what do you know, they were leaning into each other. No surprise there, but he felt awkward, uncomfortable, and pained. He clutched at his chest and turned away before they could realize he was awake, sort of wishing he was with Jeremie and Aelita.

He didn't want to become some damsel in distress and run away crying his eyes out, but he also didn't want to take the view in any longer. Odd set his popcorn on the chair handle, stood up, and walked out of the room as discreetly as he can. Once he was out of there, he leaned against the wall behind him, watching others pass by. Families, friends, and couples walked in and out of the different theater rooms. He couldn't make out what they were saying, but judging by the smiles and grins on their faces, he knew they were having a good time. 

Odd decided he didn't want to watch people in a better mood than him pass by anymore, so he let out a sigh and looked down at the red-carpeted floor, not really paying attention to its details.

Inside, Yumi accidentally knocked down the popcorn Odd set down with her elbow. She pulled away from Ulrich who kissed her shoulder in return as she turned to her right. She looked at the empty spot next to her and widened her eyes slightly.

"Hey," she turned back to him, "Odd's not here." 

"What?!" he let go of her and covered his mouth with his hand. He received a few shushes from others in the room and realized he was a little louder than intended. But he didn't care about that, panic started to sink in and he wondered if Odd was somehow taken away while he and Yumi were distracted. "Shit," he silently cursed himself and got up abruptly. "Yumi, you stay here. I'll call you if I need you." He left before she was able to protest against his demands. 

He pushed the doors open and scanned the spread-out room. He looked to the right and saw an absentminded, short blonde. "Odd?!" Ulrich rushed over to his side, "What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, hey Ulrich," he said in an inattentive tone. "Just clearing out some thoughts, you know. You seemed busy."

"Yeah... sorry about that, Odd. We thought you were still sleeping," Ulrich relaxed and also leaned against the wall, planning to stay with his friend. 

"No, don't be sorry silly. Christ, you guys are dating, Ulrich. I just felt a little weird, is all." Odd knew that wasn't the whole truth, but at least he didn't completely lie to his face. A minute or two of silence between them passed and Odd was slightly surprised to still feel his friend's presence next to him. "You're not going back in with Yumi?"

"Nah, I'll risk getting yelled at. Besides, I'm not too crazy about the movie," Ulrich responded. Odd's heart fluttered and he let a smile break loose.

"I'm touched, Ulrich. Willing to get yelled at by your girlfriend for me, huh?" he rested his elbow on Ulrich's shoulder. 

"Shut up, idiot." They noticed a pile of people walking out of the room, expecting Yumi to come out any second. Odd felt him slightly tense up. "Wish me luck, buddy."

Yumi walked out and she spotted both Ulrich and Odd, having an annoyed look on her face. "Gee, thanks for leaving me alone for the remainder of the movie, Ulrich," she crossed her arms. "You could have told me that Odd was out here!" 

"I know, Yumi, I know. I'm sorry," he apologized. He didn't want to lie and think of an excuse as to why he stayed out with Odd. That would _not_ make things better. 

"Sure, whatever, let's go," Yumi rushed out of the theater, not stopping to wait for the other two. They both followed after her, making sure to stay behind a pissed-off Yumi.

**. . .**

After dropping Yumi off at her house, Ulrich and Odd got back to their dorm room where Odd threw himself onto his bed. 

"Oi! Be a little more careful, will you?" Ulrich berated him. 

"Yeah, yeah. Just let me rest, doctor's orders."

"You can rest all you want, but you don't have to throw yourself onto the bed," Ulrich rolled his eyes and looked down at his phone. "Jeremie didn't call, that's surprising." 

"Maybe X.A.N.A.'s taking a rest, he's smart and all," Odd responded while stretching out his left arm. "Oh, Ulrich?"

"Yeah?" 

He sat up. "About earlier, at the cafeteria," he continued, "regarding what you said to Sissy, I appreciated it. I still do, actually. A lot." 

"It was nothing, Odd. She was just getting on my nerves, talking like that even though she doesn't know what happened..." Ulrich seethed and clenched his fists.

"And that's why I appreciate it, Ulrich," he turned to look at Odd, confused when he saw him pointing at his fists. He realized they were clenched and quickly undid them. "No use in hiding that, buddy. You got mad for me. You defended me. It's something people don't do for me often because of how much of an idiot I am, getting people mad _at_ me instead. Trust me, I know."

"Just because you're an idiot doesn't mean you can't have someone be there for you," Ulrich stated. "But what about your parents? Or your sisters? Or anyone else in our group?"

"I don't even want to talk about my parents. My sisters have done nothing but belittle me my whole life, and the others..." he paused, thinking about what to say. "I know they care, and I care about them. But they haven't gone to the extent as you have. That's why I'm thanking you." Odd shifted his gaze to look up at Ulrich standing in front of him. He shared their gaze in return, both staring intently at each other. Ulrich took this time to realize the hazel color Odd's eyes had. They were... unadmittedly pretty, but he didn't show any reaction. 

Their gaze only lasted several seconds, but he felt as if those eyes were binding him still for longer. It was taking him more effort than necessary for him to turn away from those eyes that reminded him of autumn. Those absorbing eyes that took him back to the time when the leaves that were once a lively, warm green transformed into a golden hue that sometimes had a shade of light green surrounding its edges. Might he add that autumn is his favorite season. 

"Ulrich?" Odd took ahold of his shoulder and shook him, "You daydreaming, buddy?" 

He blinked and snapped out of his trance-like state, "Huh? Oh, sorry. No, I'm fine."

"That's a little insulting when I'm talking to you," Odd said, not believing him.

"No! It's not like that, I swear," Ulrich sat next to him. "But besides that, you know I'm here for you Odd. Idiot or not, you can count on me."

"I know that now, but I still wanted to thank you. It only felt like the right thing to do," he grinned and fell backwards onto his bed again. "Now, you go do whatever. I'm gonna take a well-deserved nap." He was able to fall asleep before Ulrich was capable of answering.

"Astonishing," he said to himself. Unsurprisingly, he was still taken aback from that little moment he experienced. Not wanting to persist on the matter for too long, he picked up the comic he wasn't able to finish the night before and laid on his bed, Kiwi curling up to him. If there was one thing he was sure of, he definitely felt less lonely.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a little fyi, this is set somewhere between seasons 2-3, for reasons of course B)


	6. Chapter 6

Days went by since Odd was forced to accompany Yumi and Ulrich to their "date". For the first few days after that, Ulrich felt as if he _had_ to go with Odd (almost) everywhere he went, for his safety. However, that feeling started to decrease, and he simply accompanied the smaller blonde because he _wanted_ to, not needed. He still had the whole protection vibe going on, but it was becoming more of a second nature to him now.

By the time the next Sunday rolled around, Ulrich was already used to the little, trivial things he did for Odd. It ranged from holding his lunch tray, opening the door before him, carrying any books he had, providing Kiwi with any necessary pats... the list goes on. Sometimes Odd would protest against certain things he did, or sometimes he would be completely fine with it. It always depended.

But there were some things that needed more effort than others. Whenever he finished showering and had to dress up, it usually got... messy. Needless to say, Ulrich would help Odd put on his clothing (he would get embarrassed about it but he never showed it to the brunette). Odd would sometimes make snarky comments like _you're doing it wrong_ or _hey, that hurts_ in which Ulrich would respond with a _stop moving around so much, moron!_

By the time Odd was fully dressed, his hair would be disheveled while his good ol' pal would be stifling a laugh and holding up a mirror to his face.

This afternoon was no different, and he was busy tidying his hair up while Ulrich waited for him at the door.

"Just take your sweet, sweet time. No one's rushing you," Ulrich sarcastically said.

"Oh, I will take my 'sweet time'. And you'll know who to blame for this mess," Odd sent him a glare while pointing at his hair. 

"Yeah, yeah. Better hurry or I'll leave you."

"You and I both know you won't," he seemed satisfied with his hair and grabbed his cell. "Let's go."

They were supposed to meet Yumi, who had no idea that Odd was tagging along again. She was still irritated after a couple of days of their last date, and she made that clear to Ulrich when she hung around William, eliciting a jealous reaction from him. But, they both swallowed up their pride eventually and made up, which led them to today's date. When she saw Odd walking side-by-side with Ulrich, she made a surprised look that the two noticed instantly.

"What's wrong, Yumi?" Ulrich asked as they reached her.

"Ah, nothing. You didn't tell me Odd was coming with us on our... date," she was unsure on the last word.

"Oh. Right, I assumed you would be fine with him coming again, because of last week and all..." he looked over at Odd who had a concerned look on his face.

"If you want, Yumi, I can go hang with Jeremie and Aelita. See what they're up to, you know?" Odd scratched his head nervously. 

Yumi hesitated, decided that maybe she was being a little too petty about this and couldn't help but notice the subtle but noticeable worried look that Ulrich carried. Her eyes then darted over to Odd's slinger, reminding her of why he was coming along in the first place and she sighed. 

"...No, Odd. You can join," she felt overbearing and pushy for having to give him permission to tag along, but she felt satisfied when Ulrich's look transformed from worried to nonchalant. "Besides, you don't want to interrupt Mr. and Mrs. Einstein, do you? You don't know what they're up to," she winked.

"Oh, please. They're most likely working on some weird, technical shit we don't understand," Ulrich added in. Yumi and Ulrich started leading the way, Odd following behind because he still had no idea where they were going.

_A week later..._

Sunday. Again. Yumi had pulled Ulrich over to the vending machine, leaving a bewildered Odd waiting on the bench. 

"Again, Ulrich?"

"What?" 

"You're bringing Odd with us? Again?" Yumi let go of his arm and put both her hands on her hips. "I know why you want to bring him along so badly, and I know you're worried about him, but think about it for a second. Our dates don't even feel like dates!"

Ulrich should have had this coming, he really should have. Especially after he told Jeremie and Aelita about his idea to bring Odd with him and Yumi, receiving a scolding from the both of them. But, he was hoping she wouldn't bring the issue up for a bit longer. Wishful thinking, probably. 

"Yumi..." he looked up at her livid expression and he backed up a couple of steps. "I can understand why you're angry, but I'm not exactly up for leaving him alone, if you catch my drift."

"Why don't you leave him with Jeremie and Aelita? He won't exactly be alone then." 

"I know, I know, I already thought about that, but I'm not too fond of leaving him with them. If X.A.N.A. attacks, they'll can be taken out pretty easily, and Odd definitely won't be spared by any mercy. Hell, that's considering if X.A.N.A. even has any mercy," Ulrich blabbered. He shouldn't be quick to doubt his friends, but it was something he didn't have control over. He shifted slightly in his position, turning his head to spot Odd's blonde hair and his one arm spread out on the bench.

"Ulrich, look at me." He did as she said, sliding his hands into his jean pockets. "Trust them, okay? X.A.N.A.'s been quiet lately, the chance of him attacking today is low." She stepped closer to him, taking his hands and squeezing them. "Besides, we need some alone time, don't you think?" 

"Uh, yeah, sure," he stammered. They engaged in a short kiss before Ulrich pulled away. "I'll... I'll have to tell Odd, then." She nodded her head and leaned against the wall that surrounded the vending machine. He walked towards him and around the bench, then sitting on it. He noticed Odd was kicking some pebbles, making them go astray. 

"I already know what you're going to say, Ulrich," he advised. "I overheard parts of the conversation."

"You did?" Ulrich asked, sounding defeated. 

"Yep. It's not like you guys were out of ear's reach," he stood up and fixed his shirt, "No worries. I can find them."

"Odd..."

"What's wrong? They shouldn't be too far off. Go and enjoy your 'alone time', handsome," he mocked playfully, disappearing into the building. Ulrich pulled his phone out and dialed Jeremie's number. 

_"Ulrich?"_

"Yeah, it's me. Listen, Odd can't join Yumi and I. She got upset and we had a little 'talk' about it."

He heard Jeremie sigh through the other side along with girlish giggling. He figured it was Aelita. _"I told you that would eventually happen, but you didn't listen to me. Alright, I'm at the factory, I'll call him now."_

The factory? Ulrich didn't feel too great about Odd being at the factory again, it being the scene of his injury and all. He slid his hand through his hair, making it slightly messy but didn't bother to fix it. "Okay, thanks."

He jogged towards Yumi who had a smile evident on her face. "Let's go." 

**. . .**

Odd eventually reached the factory and made it down to where Jeremie and Aelita were. He would've made it sooner, but his damn shoulder was in a damn slinger, so he took his time in running down the staircase and climbing up the ladder. Odd walked towards the two in the room and leaned on Jeremie's chair. 

"Hi, Odd. Not with Ulrich today?" Aelita asked, already knowing the answer to her question.

"Don't tease me, Princess. What are you guys working on?"

"We're almost done with configuring a materialization program for Hopper. If things go well, it should be done by tonight," Jeremie explained.

"Splendid. Can't wait to meet your father, Aelita."

"I know, I can't wait either. I'm hoping Yumi and Ulrich will get here on time, too."

"Hopefully we can count on that," he muttered. Aelita gave a knowing look to Odd, who didn't notice and walked back to sit against the wall. It was going be a long day.


	7. Chapter 7

Odd awoke to the sound of Jeremie's grumbling and whispered murmurs from Aelita. He didn't know how long he slept, but he felt as if it's been awhile. He got up, had a slight wobble in his step but recovered and walked towards the supercomputer.

Aelita heard his footsteps and focused her attention onto him. "How was that nap, Odd?"

"Eh, could have been better. Sleeping on the floor is not the best way to go," he jested. "Hey, Einstein, you mind telling me what time it is?"

"It's... a quarter-to-five, Odd. Why?"

"Just wanted to know how long I slept," he answered. In truth, he mostly wanted to know how long Ulrich and Yumi were out. It's almost been a couple of hours, so he figured his nap wasn't as long as he thought it was. 

He didn't want to think about how they were enjoying each other's company and acting like any other teenage couple would, so Odd went to lie back down on the cold, uncomfortable floor again. That is, until...

"What? No way, not now!" Jeremie blurted in surprise. There was beeping coming from the supercomputer that alerted the other two in the room. 

"Something wrong, Jeremie?"

"Unbelievable. X.A.N.A. is attacking the Core of Lyoko with his monsters. Great timing too, he definitely played us," he calmed down and turned to look at the two. "Aelita, how are you going to make it by yourself?"

"She's not going by herself," Odd declared. "We're both going in."

"What? But your injury, Odd... are you sure?"

"Relax, Princess. It's almost time for me to take this dumb sling off, anyway. Right, Jeremie?" 

He didn't know how it would turn out for his friend, but at the same time he knew it would risk Lyoko if he didn't trust him and go for it. "Yes, I suppose so." He faced the supercomputer again, "Okay, get down to the scanners then, we don't have any time to lose!"

Odd and Aelita obeyed and ran to the elevator while Jeremie set up the scanners. He would call Ulrich after virtualizing the others, hoping he wasn't having too much fun on his date.

**. . .**

Yumi and Ulrich were walking down the streets, hand-in-hand, to reach a small pizza restaurant they occasionally ate at. Ulrich felt vibrating in his left pocket, so he grabbed his phone out to answer it. He saw Jeremie's name on the screen, and his tension rose. He was hesitant, even though he's received several calls from Jeremie before. Despite his nervousness, he slid his thumb over the answer button, pressing it. 

"Jeremie?" 

_"Ulrich, come over to the factory with Yumi, now. X.A.N.A.'s monsters are trying to destroy the Core of Lyoko."_ Ulrich stopped dead in his tracks.

"And Odd? Is he alri--".

_"He's fine! He's with Aelita in Lyoko. Come over, now!"_

He knew Jeremie wouldn't lie unless it was absolutely necessary, so he calmed down and gave Yumi a look, signaling that they had to end their date early. She frowned, already having figured that out judging from the tone that Ulrich had. They unlocked their hands and sprinted towards the factory. 

**. . .**

Odd and Aelita already accomplished pressing the key before the countdown ended to get to the elevator. Odd himself was feeling fantastic and was relieved that his sling wasn't affecting him virtually. He wasn't able to feel any of the pain that he experienced in his right arm on the real world, and it was so freeing after not being on Lyoko for a few weeks. He was on a streak, not taking long to adjust back to how things worked on Lyoko. It definitely didn't take him long to pulverize his enemies using his laser arrows either, aiming them right onto and through the logo that he was so used to seeing. It was almost as if things were in slow-motion, because his aim was so spot-on that it was immensely satisfying to cleanly one-shot the monsters, watching them disappear into blue particles.

Here, he didn't worry about anything. He didn't worry about schoolwork, flunking the grade, his family, or some stupid jealousy that he would experience. All he was focused on was the damn monsters, and saving the world. 

After the elevator trip, they made it to the end of the path and stopped. The Mantas weren't here yet, but they were bound to come soon.

"Vehicles, Einstein?" 

"I'm already on it. Overboard and overwing, coming up."

The vehicles materialized, and the two hopped upon their respective rides. The Mantas also sprouted just in time, fully extracting themselves from the "wall" behind them. Catching sight of the two Lyoko warriors, they shot their lasers at them as they flew towards the opening. As usual, they missed their targets and stayed on their tail. 

Odd turned back to glance at the Mantas behind them, then back to look at the area in front of him. "Don't wait for me, Aelita. Go on ahead, I'll handle them," he said. He sounded more excited than he should have.

"Are you sure, Odd?"

"Sure I am! I'll catch up soon." Odd slowed down to stay at the level speed of the Mantas. From a frontal point of view, they formed the shape of a triangle from their positions--one Manta was flying up above two while the others were below the single one, one to its left and the other to its right.

Odd was flying above the Manta on top, then jumped down to land upon it. It let out an animal-like screech, almost going astray from its path as Odd dug his claws into the logo. He peered down at the other Mantas and released his claws from his right arm to aim down at them. He took fire, watching the arrows land neatly on the logos, obliterating them. He then directed the Manta he was controlling to float above his overboard. 

"Was nice knowing you, buddy." Odd stood on the Manta and then shot through its weak point, jumping down on his overboard before it exploded. He eventually reached Aelita who was at the very bottom of the "stairs" they had to climb to reach the core.

"You're crazy, Odd," she said, referring to how he handled the monsters.

"I know, I know," he smiled triumphantly, "let's go, shall we?" They both started climbing up, Odd being on all fours. 

They reached a close enough height to face the Creepers, there being a total of five of them. Odd took the chance of them being temporarily distracted to shoot one, making the other four aware of him and Aelita. 

"Stay behind me, Princess." He stretched his arm out again, aiming at the second Creeper, making sure that they weren't able to easily hit him. 

"Help is on the way, guys. Yumi and Ulrich are about to get virtualized," Jeremie notified. Catching Odd off guard, he missed his shot by a few inches, getting shot instead. Coincidentally, it was in his right arm. The impact of the shot forced him to wobble a few steps back, leaning against the wall behind him. He clutched his right shoulder.

"What gives? That shot _actually_ hurt!" He and Aelita stayed hidden behind the wall, Odd hissing in pain.

She leaned down to try to reassure him, careful not to touch the pained area. "It's possible that it could be from your injury... but I'm not sure how."

"I don't either! There was no pain at all and I was perfectly fine before I got shot," Odd said while rubbing his arm, making Aelita furrow her eyebrows together. 

"The scanner is only supposed to process your biographical data. Unless..." Aelita was in thought for a second. 

"Unless what?"

"I'll tell you and the others later. For now..." she peeked around the corner of the wall, "we take care of them." Aelita used her Creativity to make the ground disappear under a Creeper, angelic voices being heard throughout the room as she did so. Odd, deciding to shove the pain to the side, was reckless as always, reaching a higher point in the room to face the remaining three. They simultaneously shot at him, Odd using his flexibility to dodge the incoming shots and eliminate an extra Creeper. Two left. 

He was shot again immediately afterwards, the laser landing on his torso. It didn't feel as extreme as the previous one did, so with that he confirmed that the pain was coming from his injury. 

"Careful, Odd. You're low on health-points; one more hit and you're out!" Jeremie then focused on Ulrich and Yumi. "Not to rush you guys or anything, but you need to get there soon. Odd's HP is far from replenished." 

Yumi was almost to the key, showing off her acrobatic skills as she did backflip after backflip, then a handstand. "Trust me Jeremie, we're trying," Ulrich affirmed as he defended Yumi from getting shot. He sliced a Creeper through the logo, satisfied that it was the last one in sight. He noticed a new path being made, concluding that Yumi got the key in time. "Great job, let's go!" 

As they ran for their elevator, Odd and Aelita were still facing the leftover monsters. Odd's pain prevented him from moving as freely as he usually did, so he only barely missed some shots meant for him. Aelita, on the other hand, was already shot once, losing twenty health-points. The monsters weren't focused on the core anymore, though.

"Aelita," she turned to him, "you hang low. I'll keep on distracting them until the others get here." 

Knowing fully well about his reckless demeanor, she agreed. Odd popped out from behind a wall, attempting to land a trickshot but failed. "Damn." 

Landing on all fours, being extra gentle on his right arm, he ran head straight for the Creepers, making a zig-zag motion so he would be harder to hit. Jumping from different block to block, square to rectangle, it seemed to work for the most part. Taking a glance down at the bottom of the room, Odd noticed two different figures. He realized that it was Ulrich and Yumi, heading towards the top at quick as they can. 

He had a grin on his face, knowing that they would take care of the rest. He stopped running, stood up on both of his legs and spread his arms out, being an easy target. With that, a Creeper landed a shot onto his torso again, making Odd fall back and dissipate. 

"Odd!" Ulrich yelled out, knowing that he wanted to get shot on purpose. But he still couldn't resist the urge of yelling out his name... somehow. With great precision, he threw his sword over to land on the Creeper's logo, the same Creeper that eliminated Odd. 

...To protect Aelita, of course.

Yumi did the same with her fan to the other one, making the Creeper count zero. Scanning the room, the two were relieved to see that there were no other monsters in sight. Aelita went down to meet them, giving them a smile. 

"Nice work, guys. The core will be safe for now," she turned over to where Odd was eliminated. "You should have seen Odd today, he was great!"

"Oh, is that so?" Ulrich playfully asked, being half-surprised about Odd's alleged performance. After all, it was his first time on Lyoko in weeks. 

"Careful, Aelita. He might hear you and brag his brains out," Yumi added.

"Actually, he's not even here... he's probably still in the scanner room. I'll bring you guys in and check myself." Jeremie entered some codes in and got up from his chair, heading for the scanner room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, turned out to be way longer than I thought. I'm pretty satisfied with how this one turned out, though!

**Author's Note:**

> So that's that. I feel like there's a lot in one chapter, but too little at the same time. Not sure, buuut I'm happy with it. I'm thinking about continuing this too, so there will definitely be more chapters to come.


End file.
